The Ties That Bind Us

August 2012
23 x 35

$1200

One of the most personal pieces of men’s clothing is their ties. Each of them tells us about their wearer, and each of them has soaked in the essence of the man that has worn it. I collect ties whenever a man in the family passes or when my husband declares it out of fashion so I have amassed quite a collection of their lives in pieces of silk, polyester, and rayon. I decided to test my theory that you can make anything realistic with the correct values by attempting to use ties to construct a portrait. These ties, both from my family and some collected from thrift stores, have been carefully chosen to bring forth the spirit of my grandfather, a man not related to me by blood but every bit my grandfather.